It's been a while since I've used this platform...do people still blog? But I can upload images without resizing them first here so it's easy..
I had a lovely time in Niue, but as you may have heard I wasn't allowed to complete the diving course because I had ticked I had asthma on the form. To clarify, I sent this form off a month before I arrived on the island, I wanted to be safe than sorry, so there was plenty of time for the dive centre to inform me I needed a Dr. to sign off. They didn't. Well, not until we arrived at the dive center where they mentioned there is no Dr. on the island that can sign me off. Never mind.
The weather was wild and raining for the first few days, though it was still 26 degrees all day and most of the night. There were amazing snorkeling spots around the island, and I spent my birthday with my travel companion Phil and some other travelers walking through the rain forest to explore some crystal clear pools. Sea snakes ( a lot), starfish, and hundreds of brightly coloured fish.
These are not my underwater photos, I found these on google, but just a very small snippet of what we saw.
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| The sea snakes are very poisonous but cannot bite through human skin, (usually). I kept clear though. Apparently they will lick you but I didn't want to take the chance. |
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| Our Accommodation for the week. |
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| Niue has a lot of stray dogs, this one ate the left overs. We ate dinner with about 4 dogs surrounding us our first night. |
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| Our Private Balcony |
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| We had dinner at the resort down the road a few times. |
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| ....And a few cocktails |
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| Our hosts provided us with fresh Papaya and Passionfruit from the backyard most mornings (if we didn't pick them ourselves) |
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| Limu Pools where I spent my birthday exploring |
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| Avatele Beach (one of the only beaches with sand) |
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| Phil and a stray dog. |
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| Phil dropped his Iphone into this death trap, we decided the phone wasn't worth our lives. |
I had one night back at home in Christchurch before driving up to Picton the following day. I stayed one night in Picton and caught the early ferry across to Wellington.
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| Very Foggy morning to start. |
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| Cleared to a nice calm day. |
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| Driving the Desert Road. |
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| Friday night the day after arrival it was Tonkin + Taylors 60th Anniversary. I met some of my colleagues and had a delicious dinner. All paid for, even the taxi home. |
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| My Room, glad to have a desk, bed and large wardrobe. |
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| The outdoor area |
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| Flat kitchen |
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| New Office and my desk. Only about 8 of us in the Geotechnics office. |
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| Friday night walk at the end of my road. |
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| Exploring Mt Monganui (about 15 minute drive) with my flatemate Ginko. |
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| Owners cat Shazza enjoying the fireplace. |
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| Papamoa Beach |
First week of the job has been good. Steep learning curve and still lots to learn, colleagues are really nice and down to earth, thankfully it's pretty casual in the office.
I live with 2 people in the flat, Dave who works for a bank and owns the house, and Gingko who is from China and a Preschool teacher (though shes moving to Wellington soon). It's a bit warmer than Chch which is a nice change, looking forward to exploring the surrounding towns as well.
Hope all is well,
lots of love
Alex
